Wednesday, June 20, 2012

The legend continues: Charlotte's Price's Chicken Coop made the final eight places in an Esquire survey, and now you can vote to keep the publicity rolling. "What's the most life-changing fried-chicken joint in America?" the national magazine asks. You know the answer, and it had better not be Bubba's in Dallas ... (Photo from Gourmet.)

Which Wich, a national sandwich chain, opens June 17 in the Metropolitan, 1055 Metropolitan Ave., and will be open daily with more than 50 customizable, toasted "wiches." Also offered: milkshakes, house chips, cookies and more. www.whichwich.com.

Zebra's got its first golden chanterelles in this season, and chef Jim Alexander plans to sauté them in butter with shallots, deglaze in white wine and finish with a touch more whole butter, over a simple risotto "with hmm ... maybe some butter (or reggiano parm!) And let's serve with a glass of ’09 Rex Hill Pinot Noir!" 4521 Sharon Road; 704-442-9525.

Chef Joe Bonaparte will do a spread of local foods with an Italian theme as guest chef at Passion8 on June 20. Bonaparte, for the few Charlotte diners who don't recognize his name (he's been on the scene for years), is director of curriculum at the International Culinary Schools at the Art Institutes. Six courses for $68; 803-802-7455; 3415 Highway 51 N, Fort Mill.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

The Palm celebrates National Lobster Day June 15 with $1 lobster sliders in the bar area: The sliders (lobster salad with bacon, oven-dried tomatoes, avocado and micro greens) are $1 each with purchase of a beverage.

Also offered on the Day: $45 3-pound Nova Scotia lobsters, served with melted butter and lemon, all day while supplies last (the price does not include drink, side, tax or tip). 6705-B Phillips Place Court; 704-552-7256.

So here's what we know. In Charlotte on the debut day, it wasn't offered in the uptown Trade Street store yet, according to the guy who answered the phone. And at the nearby location I finally found, it actually looked like this ... which is the soft-serve ice cream with "bacon crumbles" placed at the bottom and on top. It's debut day, after all, and things are chaotic: The cashier said when I ordered, "I don't think we're even serving that yet," despite the giant video running behind her on a large screen, then couldn't find it on the register. Still, she knew a little about how it was supposed to be made: When I ran back in from the car to say "Isn't there supposed to be chocolate sauce?" she said: "Yes. And it's supposed to be at the bottom."

She added some -- a nicely fudgy thick sort, too, I must say, making it look like this:
(Actually, it was also missing caramel sauce and a "thick-cut, hardwood smoked bacon garnish," but I loathe quibbling.)

How was it? Awful. Hammy-textured bacon (as in all chew, no crunch, even on the bits not buried at the bottom), no salty pop, thick fatty edges that turned leaden. Mind you, I like chocolate-covered bacon, and have written lovingly about it -- unpublished, though, since it was suspected the average reader would not be interested in the stuff. This, at $2.80 (including tax), has more than 500 calories, 61 grams of sugar and 18 grams of fat, and is worth exactly none of that. (Meh, said Esquire, with whom I agree.) Is it dehumanizing? Another way corporate fast-food places are trying to kill us? A statement on Americans' obsession with fat and sugar and disregard of nutritional health?

1. The ice cream product actually did melt on my way back to the office, placing it squarely in the normal range of ice cream behavior, something that cannot always be said of fast-food ice cream products.

2. And at nearly 1 p.m. Thursday, mine was only the second Bacon Sundae this location had sold. I'm proud of my city. And curious about whoever bought the first ... Call me!

Chef/owner/farmer Cassie Parsons from Harvest Moon Grille has won a Citizen Entrepreneur title from Global Green USA for her work helping Seigle Avenue Presbyterian Church with a start-up urban farm, the Seigle Farm community garden. Global Green USA is the American affiliate of Green Cross International, which aims at a "global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future." Read more here.

Street address for the lot is 224 E. 7th St. Admission is free (but bring cash, since not all vendors take debit or credit cards), and parking will be available for $5 in the lot next to the Chow Down. Alcoholic drinks will be sold at the 7th Street Public Market.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Harper's at Carolina Place offers Father's Day specials of 11-ounce prime rib (with side and salad) or hickory-grilled shrimp and sirloin (with same) for $21. Its regular menu will also be offered. 11059 Carolina Place Parkway; 704-541-5255.

Del Frisco's will be open for brunch and dinner on Father's Day (June 17), with a $35 brunch menu (along with the regular dinner menu, a $12 kids' menu and a Bloody Mary and mimosa bar) offered 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.. For dinnertime (4:30-9 p.m.), a three-course $49 dinner menu (filet mignon and crab cake) will be available, as well as a Father's Day feature lineup. 4725 Piedmont Row Drive; 704-552-5502.

Three-course brunch at The Liberty for Father's Day is $21.95 per person, and if you're on its email list (which you can join by going to www.thelibertycharlotte.com), you can access a coupon that lets Dad eat for half-price. Among the course choices: heirloom tomato gazpacho with Maine lobster; hearts of palm salad with shiitakes; Lowcountry shrimp and grits; prime rib with truffle-parmesan herb fries; and more. Brunch is 11 a.m.-2 p.m.; 1812 South Blvd.; 704-332-8830.

5Church holds a Father's Day Sunday Brunch Party, with brunch served all day (starting at 11 a.m.), plus a DJ and specialty drinks. 127 N. Tryon St.; 704-919-1322.

The Palm at Phillips Place will offer for the day surf and turf for $54.90 (single cut filet, 6-ounce tail plus starter and one side), along with its summer lobster dinner for two deal ($99) and a new lineup of cocktails and after-dinner drinks. 6705-B Phillips Place Court; 704-552-7256.

Vin Master, Atherton Mill's wine shop, hosts an oyster fest June 20, with wine pairings, for $25. Guests get all-you-can-eat oysters, both raw and cooked, from Lucky Fish (another Atherton purveyor) and at least four wines chosen by Chris Woodrow of Vin Master.

Expect a Riesling or three, for the first day of summer and the Summer of Riesling, a movement begun in New York that espouses the idea of pouring nothing else all summer. Vin Master participates in the movement. "Riesling is an awesome wine in general," Woodrow said in a press release. "... Like a good lemonade, you keep the tartness, but need a little sugar to balance it out."

Osso offers a 10 percent discount off your food bill if you've got tickets to something at the Fillmore, Time Warner Uptown Amphitheater or Comedy Zone. It's also got a specific concert and show menu, offering an array of appetizers, pastas and pizzas ranging in price from about $9 to $16. Show your tickets for the offers. 1000 N.C. Music Factory Blvd.; 704-971-0550.

Monday, June 11, 2012

All American Pub is open at the former Jillian's at 200 E. Bland St. (next to Greek Isles) in South End. This operation, from the Bottle Cap Group (the folks doing Brazwells, Whiskey Warehouse and Jack's Corner Tap in Cornelius), offers a menu ranging from the unusual (an appetizer of watermelon layered with spinach and goat cheese, and the Fiery Drunk burger, with fried jalapeños) to more typical fare (lots of burgers, wings, wraps and salads, plus entrees such as steak, chicken and pasta). The place has two party rooms for 50 to 1,000, says the group's Alfonso Giacomucci, and will offer Sunday brunch with a Bloody Mary bar as well. Open 11 a.m.-2 a.m. daily, with a limited menu 11 p.m.-1 a.m. and kitchen closing at 1); about $7-$14; 704-370-2000.

Jimmy Margiotis of Plaza-Midwood landmark John's Country Kitchen tells us he's heard the rumors, too, but no, he and his mother, Margaret, are not closing the place. He is, however, working on opening a new place: a pizza restaurant, with Philly cheesesteaks and more (but no plans for breakfast), at the former Carmela's at Carmel Commons. He's shooting for an October opening there. Details to come.

As far as John's (which Margiotis took over running from his dad, John, in 1984) goes, he says he has about 4 1/2 years left on his lease, and currently plans to stay open through the end of that. Known for its simple diner menu with Greek overtones (hot cakes to country-style steak to souvlaki), spare decor and for serving brains and eggs for breakfast, it's won plenty of regulars in its 35 years at 1518 Central Ave.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The first franchised location of South End's Phat Burrito will go into 415 Hawthorne Lane sometime around July 1, says partner Jeff Bardin. Jeff and Paul Bardin, owners of the Snoops location there that closed June 2, and Bob and Patty Dowdy (of National Restaurant Properties) will be owners and operators of the new place. The menu and prices will be identical to South End's, with burritos, tacos, salads and more (see www.phatburrito.com for more). Jeff Bardin adds "Expansion is going to happen; we will have franchise rights for the area (and) can look other places, too." The Snoops burger place at 2900 Westinghouse Blvd. will remain open, and there are no plans to turn it into another Phat Burrito, Bardin said.

You'll find a donation-only lemonade stand 11 a.m.-2 p.m. this Friday (June 8) in the Wells Fargo Plaza at the corner of South Tryon Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard. Proceeds will benefit Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, which raises awareness and money for childhood-cancer research. Wells Fargo will be lighting up the Duke Energy building in yellow the night before, according to Svend Deal of Cozen O'Connor, the firm doing the stand.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Bruegger’s Free Iced Coffee Day will be June 21, nationwide; you'll need to either Like the place's Facebook page and print out a coupon for it, or join its email club at www.brueggers.com before June 19 (you'll get a coupon via email). For each new Like to the page, the company says it will donate $1 to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Funds raised by customers' donations on-site in Charlotte will go to Levine Children's Hospital.

"Sowing the Seeds of Salad" is this Thursday at Noodles & Company: On June 7, the first 50 people in line at Noodles restaurants nationwide will get a card for a free salad from the new Summer Salad lineup at the chain, plus three "garden stakes," each good for a free salad, to give to others. One offer per family, notes the company.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The second Charlotte American Roadside plans a grand opening event June 9 at 5821 Fairview Road at SouthPark, becoming the flagship store of the brand and putting corporate offices next door, according to chairman and CEO Rich LaVecchia. (The first area location is uptown and opened in October.) The SouthPark location will begin serving lunch and dinner June 11. 704-733-9037.

Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, a barbecue chain out of Birmingham, Ala., with 29 locations across the Southeast, has opened its second area location, at 7791 Gateway Lane NW in Concord, near Concord Mills. Known for pork, chicken and ribs done in a gas smoker, the place offers plates (about $10-$19) and sandwiches (about $6.50-$9.50), plus salads, catfish and more. Lunch and dinner daily; 704-453-2791.

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About this blog

Tapas to tacos, foie gras to fries, Helen Schwab has written about food in and around Charlotte for more than 20 years. Her related experience includes traveling (pizza in Naples to pizza in New York), waitressing (she understands about tipping from both sides), journalism (a B.S. from Northwestern University), and cooking at home, the less said about which the better.